


Times Square

by miera



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-06
Updated: 2011-04-06
Packaged: 2017-10-17 16:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/178555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miera/pseuds/miera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a couple scenes from a longer idea, involving Ronon in Earth clothes, back on Earth with Elizabeth, and in this case Teyla and John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Times Square

In a couple more days the claustrophic feeling would probably set in, but for their first night in the city, Elizabeth soaked up the atmosphere of Manhattan and just let it wash over her. The crowdedness of the tiny island will start bothering her soon, but right then it just felt slightly alien. She'd gotten so used to living in a place where the population is dwarfed by the space around them that fighting for personal space was strange.

It was a warm, windy fall evening, which was nice, as there was little worse than gruesome heat in New York. The weather forecast said it would rain later, but right now it was just windy, with gray clouds skidding across the patches of sky they could see between the buildings.

John and Teyla were ahead of her, John still talking intermittently about the city. Teyla had been surprisingly thrown by the size of the city and the sheer number of people. She'd been jumpy during the morning while they were all walking around in midtown. During the afternoon, while Elizabeth was catching up with some old colleagues, Teyla appeared to have calmed down.

Towering next to her was Ronon. He looked bizarrely out of place to her in the hooded sweatshirt and jeans and boots. Not to mention ridiculously young. He could've passed for a college student, and that just made her feel a little too much like Mrs. Robinson for her taste, so she pushed those thoughts away. Though it was fairly ironic that he, for once, wasn't wearing any leather clothing (that she knew of) but she was wrapped in her faded brown leather jacket.

It was hard to tell if Ronon had been quieter since they got here or not, since there wasn't much of a baseline to compare it to. Elizabeth wondered idly how many knives he had on him right now. Getting him to completely disarm himself for the flight from Colorado had been a battle royale. Actually getting him to take a vacation and come with them to Earth hadn't been the easiest task either, but here they all were.

They rounded a corner and Elizabeth grinned as Teyla actually stumbled to a halt. In her defense, Times Square at night was one of those things pictures couldn't capture. John glanced at Elizabeth and they shared a grin at the way their companions were gaping.

Finally John nudged Teyla's arm. "Come on, we'll miss our reservation."

***

Pizza at John's - the restaurant in the theater district - was pretty much what she remembered. She burned the roof of her mouth on the hot cheese, but she didn't care. John and Ronon both did a double take when she started drinking her beer straight from the bottle without thinking about it.

Without consciously intending to, she let her tongue linger on the opening of the bottle as she drank and was gratified by the tiny flare of surprise she caught in Ronon's eyes.

She set the beer down and scolded herself silently. She drank water the rest of the meal.

She wasn't sure, but it seemed like Ronon ate nearly three whole pizzas total. Elizabeth ordered a large piece of pie all for herself and refused to share, even when John gave her the puppy face. Everyone ended up with their own pie.

When the bill was finally taken care of - courtesy of Elizabeth's expense account - the four of them went back outside to find that the rain had come and now lightened to a mist. The streets were wet, but it was a Friday night in early fall, so the sidewalks were still crowded. They had to go single file, and Ronon's hand landed on her back to make sure he didn't lose her in the crowd. Elizabeth fancied she could feel the heat of his body even through her jacket.

They reached a corner and John paused, telling Teyla and Ronon about the news ticker in Times Square. Elizabeth let the lights just dazzle her eyes for a bit, which was not hard to do. The wet streets reflected the multicolored neon back, adding to the intensity of the light, and around them was the babble of different people, different languages, and the ever-present sounds of midtown traffic underlying it all.

Someone jostled her and Elizabeth immediately tensed, old urban survival instincts kicking in automatically. She checked to make sure her wallet, cell phone and room key were intact.

Ronon reached out and pulled her closer and she could pratically feel his protective glare as he looked over the crowd. She allowed the move, allowed his arm to rest over her shoulders. She couldn't help the grin on her face, though. How many times had she been in a city like this with half of her brain always preoccupied with making sure she didn't get mugged or attacked? And right now, with just Ronon standing next to her, she was probably the safest person in Times Square.

John and Teyla were talking, but she couldn't hear them over the ambient noise. Then Ronon bent down to her. "You ok?" he rumbled.

She nodded, smiling, leaning into him a little. "I'm just a bit tired."

His arm squeezed gently, and she was glad he didn't let go. She didn't much care if it was intended to be a come-on or just a friendly gesture, it felt comforting and right and warm. Purely without thinking about it, she said, "I'm glad you came with us."

Ronon smiled easily, something he didn't do often. "Wouldn't miss it."

She rolled her eyes, because convincing him to take even a few weeks off from his personal crusade hadn't exactly been the easiest negotiation she'd ever gone through. She reached out and patted John's arm.

If he was surprised to see Ronon's arm around her, or her not objecting, John didn't show it. He glanced at his watch. "I was thinking we could go back to the Empire State building and see the view at night," he said.

It was a tempting thought, but Elizabeth's feet weren't used to this much walking and standing, and she hadn't been lying about being tired. Reluctantly, she pulled away from Ronon. "You have time, I think. But I'm heading back to the hotel. I don't think my feet can take walking much farther than that." One of the benefits of a government expense account was they were at a very posh hotel not far from Times Square.

John, Teyla and Ronon glanced at one another and she knew better than to try and parse the meanings behind their swift looks. She had her own personal communication rituals with them all, but the team-bonding thing was, of necessity, a faster system than she could keep up with. All she knew was that a few moments later, John and Teyla headed off to catch a cab, and Ronon stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, clearly waiting for her to get moving.

"I am capable of getting back to the hotel on my own," she said, just for the record.

"Didn't say you couldn't," he answered with a smirk. She was pretty sure he'd picked that expression up from John. Of all the habits for him to acquire.

"You weren't interested in seeing the city from..." she waved at the tips of the skyscrapers around them.

He shrugged. "I saw it already." He was watching her, and Elizabeth felt a tiny surge of heat contract through her abdomen.

Instead of pointing out that the Manhattan skyline at night was a very different experience than during the day, she just returned the smirk, put her hands in her coat, and started walking.


End file.
